Keep the Faith
by KatieTaylor
Summary: After the events of 7x08, Steve and Danny finally stop fighting this thing they've been dancing around.
1. I Believe

a/n: The last few fics I've posted were written because they came to me and I had to write them down. This was written because I was hosting a twelve-hour write-in for NaNoWriMo, but I'm not actually doing NaNoWriMo. :) I didn't have any blogging to catch up on, so what could I do? I decided... fanfic. So because I came up with all this because I needed something to write, I'm not sure how it's going to go. I didn't even have any ideas!

In the end I chose to do a track listing fic based on Bon Jovi's "Keep the Faith" (it was going to be "New Jersey", but the song titles on Faith fit more.) I thought about using this idea to add timestamps or additional parts to other series or stories I've posted. In the end, however, I decided to write a new McDanno story.

Unless noted, each chapter will be a short dip in the pool as we progress through the McDanno relationship, starting with episode 7x08. Also unless otherwise noted, I used the song titles themselves simply as prompts for each chapter, I didn't take the lyrics and fit them to the story or vice versa. This isn't a song-fic. There will be 14 chapters that includes two bonus tracks as listed on Wikipedia. As of posting the first chapter, I have six already written. Hopefully I won't fall too far behind!

I hope that all makes sense!

* * *

Steve practically stumbled into his house as dawn began to peek over the horizon. He barely remembered to close the door behind him before falling onto the couch. He narrowly missed the card table still set up in the middle the room, didn't notice that the rest of the guys had otherwise cleaned up the place for him after Five-0 had bolted from his house. All he knew was that adrenaline crashes were a bitch, especially lately, and he needed to be horizontal.

Well, he knew two things: one, adrenaline crashes were a bitch and two, Danny and Grace were okay.

He had refused to leave the scene until everything was squared away. All the evidence collected, he and Chin had interrogated the subjects they hadn't killed just so Steve could blow off some steam. They'd let Danny and Lou go so they could be with their kids. Throughout the take down, he hadn't let himself think too much of Danny and Grace being inside, being the targets of these assholes' wrath once they'd been discovered. He couldn't let the images of torture and death and fear materialize in his mind.

Once the bullets had stopped flying, however, his only thoughts had been of his partner and his partner's daughter. If they had been hurt at all... as that fear came back to him on the couch, Steve squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the heels of his hand into them. That did nothing to block out the images that came into his mind when he'd first got Lou's frantic call about shots fired at the dance. The dance Danny was at, unarmed. The dance Grace was at. Somehow, he'd managed to call up his training and push the panic away, or at least channel it into mobilizing and into battle and into making sure everyone that mattered got out of there alive.

So yeah, when the bullets stopped flying and he hadn't seen Grace right away, his heart had dropped into his gut. If anything had happened to her, he wouldn't be able to—but then he heard her voice and he had her in his arms and Danny was there and neither of them were injured.

He could breathe again.

Danny had hung back at first and Steve wondered why. Did Danny blame him? Steve blamed himself, even if, logically, there was exactly zero he could have done to prevent any of this from happening. It's not like that had ever stopped his guilt complex before. At least, not when it came to Danny and Grace.

God... if anything had happened to them... The thought was stuck on repeat in his head, like a needle stuck on a record.

And then Danny had looked at him like he'd never looked at him before, came out with that ridiculous line about choosing a base and Steve had practically crumpled into his arms. Relief and...

Belief. That maybe Danny had really meant it the way Steve wanted him to mean it. That after all these years this thing that they had been dancing around might actually happen. For the first time, Steve didn't just want, he _allowed_ himself to want.

But anything else would need to wait. Grace was shaking like a leaf and the sound of the ballroom finally pierced the haze of relief in his mind. Sobbing teenagers; groaning men; Kono and Chin barking orders, allowing their boss to take care of more important things; Lou's voice, somehow gruff and gentle at the same time, as he comforted his son; the other chaperones trying to work through their own shock and try to calm the students. Steve had closed his eyes, squeezed Danny's shoulder, kissed the top of Grace's head, and kicked them and the Grovers out. He put everything behind them and get back to work.

He could have lost everything tonight. He could have lost Danny and Grace. He could have lost the two most important people in his life. If that had happened...

He mentally smacked the turntable.

That hadn't happened. They were alive and well. He still had his friend and his friend's daughter and that alone was enough to make his heart soar because even if nothing else ever happened, if Danny's looks and words had just been relief, if all they really were and ever would be were best friends, brothers, he never wanted to lose that. But for the first time in his life, Steve felt like he may actually get everything he wanted. He could believe that he would get a happy ending.

Unlike all the other times Danny had been in danger, tonight Steve fell asleep easily and was not plagued with nightmares fueled by fear or guilt or the past, but dreams fired up with love and happiness and hope and the future.


	2. Keep the Faith

**Keep the Faith**

Steve was awake even earlier than usual Monday morning. This had been one of the longest weekends of his life. He hadn't seen Danny or Grace all weekend. Grace had been too shaken up to want to leave their house, almost bordering on clingy, and Danny, understandably, was loathe to let her out of his sight.

They'd spoken on the phone a lot over the last two days, however. There'd been several texts from them both when Steve had finally been woken by his back, screaming at him for torturing it with a night – or morning, as the case may be – on the couch. He saw the last one first.

 _-Hey, you're not answering my Monkey, you Neanderthal. You better not have gotten yourself killed after I left._

Steve had grinned and called him before he'd even done more than just sit up on the couch.

He'd kept busy the rest of the weekend, in between chats with the Williams. He'd made some calls to HPD to make sure everything was taken care of, called the Governor to update her. He worked on the Marquis, not because anything was wrong with it, but because he needed to keep busy. He needed keep from going crazy thinking about what had happened, what could have happened, what might happen when he finally saw Danny again. All those phone calls had sounded a lot more fond then they had before.

So now it was Monday morning and he was pulling himself out of the ocean about the same time he was usually going in. He toweled off as he walked back to the house, thinking about maybe going for a run with all this extra time he had, to try and burn off all this extra energy he also had.

That was, until he saw Danny standing on the lanai, hands in his pockets. Steve stopped drying his hair, held the towel at his side, watched as Danny's gaze flicked over all his bare skin. Danny's lips twitched into a smile and Steve smiled back, walking over to him, standing much too close for most bros, especially when one of them was practically naked, but just about normal for Steve and Danny.

"Hey."

"Hey babe."

"How's Grace?"

Danny shrugged. "Good. I took her to school early today so she could see Will before class." Steve laughed at his friend when Danny visibly shuddered at the thought. "And I wanted to see you."

Steve licked his lips. "We would have seen each other in an hour anyway."

Another shrug. "You complaining? I can leave." He pointed behind him with his thumb.

"No!" Steve knew he was only kidding, but some part of Steve was afraid of what he knew was about to happen. After six years of wanting something, of trying to talk himself out of his feelings, of thinking that Danny couldn't possibly feel the same about him, even if he thought, sometimes, maybe he did. After all these years of all these warring emotions, he was afraid. Afraid that he'd read things wrong, or even if he hadn't, that he didn't get to have them. Why would he? What had he ever done to deserve this?

"Hey, hey," Danny was saying, reaching out to brush his fingers across Steve's jaw. "What's going on?"

Steve closed his eyes, leaned into the touch. He wasn't reading this wrong. He couldn't be.

"Danny, don't go."

"Not gonna, babe."

They moved closer and closer, pulled into each other's orbits. The sun crested the horizon, shining its golden rays across Danny's face. Curiosity finally got the better of him. What would the sun taste like from Danny's lips? What little noises would he make as they kissed? Would he be loud and brash?

Steve closed the final space between them, Danny meeting him half way as his hand moved from Steve's jaw to the back of his neck, pulling him down. Their first kiss started soft and chaste, everything they usually weren't.

Steve lifted a hand to Danny's jaw, the stubble rough under his fingertips and he recorded these new tastes and sensations in his memory in case he never felt this again. In case this was a dream. Danny sighed into the kiss, opening, allowed Steve to explore and Steve didn't hesitate to take the gift, exploring every inch Danny offered up. He walked them back until Danny hit the railing with a grunt. Steve broke their kiss, licked his bottom lip as if to savour even more of Danny's taste, as he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Danny's.

"Danno." His friend scratched lightly at the nape of his neck. He breathed deeply and whether that was to breathe him in or catch his breath, Steve didn't know. "Danny... I don't know what I would have done if anything..."

"Hey. I'm okay. Grace is okay. Because of you."

Steve chuckled and it sounded suspiciously wet and he didn't want to think about how much he was embarrassing himself in front of Danny. Despite that, he pulled back so he could watch his friend's face, seeing him now in a new light. This light where maybe they could be something more.

"Thanks to Lou, actually. He wanted to make sure you weren't gonna flip out about Will and Grace."

Danny scoffed. "I would never do that!" Steve raised an eyebrow and Danny smirked. "Okay, so maybe he was saved by the sound of gunshots."

"What about you and me?" Steve said after a moment, feeling unsure again, like maybe everything was still just a by-product of the dance. Maybe Danny hadn't really meant it. It's not like Steve was worthy of someone like—

"What about us? You have me pressed up against your house McGarrett. You kissed me like a starving man and you wanna know 'what about us'? What about you guys saving the day without being a crazy person? What about the fact that your first thought when it was over was about my daughter? You know how much more I fell in love with you in that moment?"

Steve's heart skipped a beat at that and all the negative thoughts playing see-saw with the positive ones disappeared and he was just left floating in the air. 'More' implied Danny was already in love with him.

Danny and Grace were alive and fine and Danny Williams was in love with him.

Steve pulled Danny to him, wrapping his arms around him, holding tight, practically feeling Danny's heart beating against his chest. He buried his face in the other man's neck to breath in his scent – Irish Spring, the spice of his aftershave, the salt of the air, and the scent that was just Danny. He felt Danny's breath flutter against his skin.

"You're lucky this crazy Hawaiian sun has already dried you off, you animal." Steve pulled back with a laugh, a twinkle in his eye, and a smile so big it almost hurt his face.

Grace and Danny were alive and well, Danny Williams was in love with him and absolutely nothing had to change. Except for the better.

"Danny..." he said again, couldn't say it enough, as if he had to remind himself that this was real, that Danny was really here. He kissed him again and this time it was an explosion, an attack on Danny's mouth, his jaw, his neck, his mouth again as they both endeavoured to discover everything they could about the taste and feel of the other.


	3. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

**I'll Sleep When I'm Dead**

Danny sleeps beside him, passed out from their earlier escapades. It's been a long and wonderful and frustrating week since that morning on the lanai. A week of longing looks and emotional texts and phone calls. Of too-short make out sessions in the mornings when Danny picks him up for work, held hands and fingers on thighs in the Camaro, and stolen kisses in the hallway at the Palace. Steve wonders if the looks and the touches and the I love yous looked or sounded any different than they always had to the team. They haven't told anyone yet, not even Grace, wanting to just enjoy each other, alone, for as long as they can.

Rachel and Stan arrived back home early this morning so this has been the first night since the dance that Steve and Danny had seen each other outside of work. They'd managed to hold off the fireworks long enough to eat a pizza and talk, just relaxing and enjoying each other for the first time since they'd finally admitted their feelings for each other.

Now Danny's laying on Steve's pillow in Steve's bed with Steve's sheet riding so low there's almost no point in having pulled it up at all, with Steve himself wrapped around him. His face is half-buried in Danny's neck. Their legs are tangled up together and their arms around each other. Danny's embrace had loosened as he fell asleep, while Steve's still grips him tight. His body begs him to join Danny in sleep, but he's fighting it. He doesn't want to take his eyes off Danny, off his beautiful face, muscular chest, strong arms that feel so good wrapped around him. His mind supplies the images, no longer imagination but memory, of what lay hidden under the sheet – powerful legs, thick cock that had felt so good, right, inside him as Danny had finally claimed him, made him his.

He chews his lip, soothes it by burying his face farther into Danny's neck and kissing him where it meets his shoulder, the love bite Steve had left there has already almost faded. He wants to make that mark stay, so everyone will know Danny belongs to him and no one else.

Danny lets out a little, needy noise and his arms tighten around Steve for a moment before he settles back asleep.

Steve's never felt this need to possess someone so completely before, or to be possessed in return. Granted, the closest thing he's ever had to relationships in the past had been that cheerleader in high school – because the quarterback was supposed to date the head cheerleader, wasn't he? – and Catherine, and Lynn, who was even more a case of 'friends with benefits' than Cath had been. Possession always seemed wrong, like it would be viewing the other person as an object to be controlled and paraded around.

But that's not what Steve's possessiveness of Danny is about. This is about being so consumed by Danny that he doesn't know where he ends and Danny begins. It's about wanting to tell the whole world about it because he's happy and can barely contain himself. Maybe he's crazy. Maybe he's a little obsessive. He doesn't really care. He just doesn't want Danny to ever leave him.

Maybe it's because so many people have left or betrayed him that he just wants to hold onto Danny, who he knows without a shred of a doubt would never do either of those things. Maybe it's because he didn't think anyone could ever want him enough to feel that possessiveness toward him that he hadn't even known he could feel that way about Danny until tonight.

The realization had scared him, thought it would scare Danny away, too. He tried to lock it down, talk himself out of it. Danny wasn't an object; he wasn't someone that should be possessed or needed protecting.

But then, as Danny had explored his way down his body, he'd alleviated all his fears. His hand, that had been driving Steve wild playing with his nipples, stilled over Steve's heart. Their eyes met and Danny growled out "mine" before taking Steve's cock into the wet heat of his mouth.

It was at that moment that Steve realized what it really meant to truly possess someone, and be possessed in return.

"Yes, yours!" Steve had agreed, wholeheartedly, as he ran one hand over his face and tangled the other in Danny's hair.

"Fuck me, Danny."

Danny had groaned around him before pulling off.

"Yeah, babe, let's do that."

He sighs deep at the memory, still burning fresh not only in his mind but his body. He blinks a long blink before opening his eyes wide again, trying to stave off the inevitable.

He wishes he could get away without ever sleeping again, so he can spend the rest of his nights just watching this man, making sure he always looks this peaceful, and that nothing ever happens to him. And if he never goes to sleep, well then he never has to worry about waking up to find out it has all just been a dream.

"Go to sleep, you goof," Danny says. "I'll still be here in the morning." Steve grins, kisses Danny's shoulder, leans up to kiss his mouth. Danny seems happy to return the kiss until Steve pulls back just enough to say "I love you" against his lips.

Danny kisses him again, hard and quick, eyes still closed as if he's still asleep. He pulls at Steve's bottom lip with his teeth, soothes it with his tongue.

"I love you, too. Now go to sleep."

Steve goes to sleep.


	4. In These Arms

**In These Arms**

Steve was nervous. There was no other way to describe what he was feeling. He'd never felt nervous before, at least, not like this. Not like he was going to puke, or maybe pass out. He refused to have a panic attack about this. There was no reason to have a fucking panic attack over this. He scowled at himself, then stopped when he noticed a mother steer her child farther away from his table.

He sighed. Took a deep breath. Tried to relax.

It wasn't like he and Danny had never taken Grace out for supper before.

It was, however, the first time they were going to tell Grace that her father and her uncle – which Steve realized, with a grimace, sounded really inappropriate now – were dating. Which also did not sound right to Steve.

'Dating' was what he'd done with Catherine, and with Lynn. Calling what he and Danny were doing 'dating' seemed like an oddity. Dating was just a socially acceptable way to pay for sex, if you wanted to get crass about it.

Steve loved Danny like nothing else; like a black hole could swallow everything else around him and Steve wouldn't care as long as Danny still loved him. Steve and Danny didn't need dates to connect. They did that just by looking at each other, by sitting together on the couch bitching about a two-day old baseball game they were only just getting around to watching because they'd been too exhausted after getting home from work to do anything other than drop straight into bed and fall asleep wrapped up in each other. When they had sex, it was a physical expression of everything they felt for each other, not just a fun way to get off, though it was certainly that as well.

Besides, they hadn't actually been on a date yet. At least, not since they'd started 'dating', and he wasn't sure tonight would count. Sure they were at a nice restaurant and he was in a nice suit, but was it a date if your lover brings his daughter with him?

Because tonight they were telling Grace that they were... whatever. And he was nervous as fuck. Sure, he loved Grace like she was his own, and she loved him, but what would she say now that he was more than just her Danno's friend? Would she approve more than she had of Gabby and Melissa?

"Earth to Steve." He jumped in his seat. "You're ignoring my Monkey again."

"Hey guys." He stood up and pulled Grace into a hug. It was the first time he'd seen her since the dance. He hugged her a little tighter than normal, but he was pretty sure she did, too. "How you doin', kiddo?"

"Good. I'm good Uncle Steve."

"Good." He kissed her hair. He looked at Danny behind her, a wide grin on his face as he watched them. Steve winked at him, then asked, "and how's Will?"

Danny scowled at him, though there was no heat to it. Grace burrowed into his shoulder and he imagined her blushing.

"Uncle Steve!"

He chuckled, kissed her head again, happy that she still allowed it, and released her. He felt empty when she left his arms and he wondered how it made Danny feel if she made Steve feel like this.

"Hey," Steve finally said to Danny, as he pulled Grace's chair out for her.

"Hey yourself. You clean up nice, babe," even if this wasn't the first time he'd seen Steve in a suit. Steve shrugged the compliment off, but couldn't stop the small smile.

They sat down across from each other with Grace, in her pretty sun dress, sitting against the wall of the booth next to Danny. Their waiter came and took their drink orders, then left them to decide on their food. Steve, in his nervousness, which was already dissolving now that his favourite people were with him, had arrived early and distracted himself by looking over the choices and choosing what he wanted. He picked the menu up and looked over it anyway, for show, watching Grace and Danny out of the corner of his eye.

She kept looking at both of them, pretending to read her menu but failing miserably. She would bite her lip like she wanted to ask a question, but didn't. Danny must have been watching her as well because, without looking away from his menu, he said "Monkey, stop fidgeting and decide what you want to eat."

She huffed and looked at her choices, but Steve was sure she still wasn't reading it. He caught her eye and winked at her.

"I'm having lasagna," he told her. She grinned, closed the folder and dropped it on the table.

"Me too." They turned to watch Danny.

After a moment, he looked up, scowling again... or still.

"What? Why? Why are you look at me like that, huh? How am I supposed to make this very important decision – shut up, Steven, Italian food decisions are very important! – with you two looking at me like that? You're rushing me!"

"We didn't say anything!" Grace said, laughing.

Steve smirked. "You got a little performance anxiety there, Danno?"

His eyes narrowed even more, then he smirked and raised an eyebrow, like he would have challenged Steve if innocent ears hadn't been so close.

He closed his own menu and dropped it on top of Grace's. The waiter was on them immediately.

"Three lasagnas please, and some bruschetta to start."

"Yes, sir," the waiter said, taking their menus away.

By some silent agreement, Danny and Steve sat back in their seats, sipping their waters, like it was any other meal and not the most nerve wracking day of Steve's life.

"How was school this week, Monkey?"

She cracked in thirty seconds.

"Stop it! Stop torturing me! What is going on?" She looked from Steve to Danny and back to Steve again and her eyes were twinkling. Steve started to think maybe she might have an idea what they were going to tell her – she was a smart young lady, after all – and from her expression, he didn't think she'd be upset about it. He felt the last bit of nerves disappear. Why had he ever worried about this in the first place? He smirked at her.

"No idea what you're talking about, Gracie."

"Yeah babe, your dad and your Uncle Steve here can't take our favourite girl," and Steve's breathing stopped for a moment at that and he couldn't suppress his grin, "out for a nice post-hostage taking dinner?"

She narrowed her eyes, just like Danny did, while still smiling, also just like Danny whenever he was not-annoyed with him. She pointed at Steve.

"You can't be 'Uncle Steve' anymore."

Steve's face fell. Did he get this wrong? But no, she still seemed too happy to be angry enough to demote him.

"Grace!" Her father said, perhaps wondering the same thing.

"Well? My dad can't date my uncle! That's just gross!" But her eyes were getting wider and her smile larger and her words louder and higher and started to run together, like Danny when he got going. "Like, if Steve is my uncle, he's like your brother and you can't date your brother because that's what this is right? We're on a date! You'll have to just be Steve or... Step-Steve!" she wrinkled her nose at that, and so did Danny. "Or maybe d—"

"Way to ruin a surprise, Monkey," Danny said, laughing, trying to reign her in before she announced it to the entire block, and not just the restaurant.

She squealed. "I'm right!"

"Uh yeah," Steve finally said. "You're right. Is that a problem, Gracie?"

"Are you kidding me?" Steve thought she would be in only-dogs-can-hear-her range shortly. "Get out! Get out!" She said, slightly more quiet, pushing at Danny to make him get out of the booth. Then she came over to Steve, tugging on his arm. "Get out! Get out!" Of course, he followed her order.

She pulled the them into a group hug and Steve's heart melted as he tightened his around...

"Family selfie!"

His family.


	5. Bed of Roses

**Bed of Roses**

Steve felt like he should be more nervous about this or, in fact, nervous at all. But he wasn't. Even if Danny thought this was a stupid idea, Steve had nothing to worry about. It was so freeing to know someone loved you unconditionally. That there was nothing Steve could do that would make Danny turn him away, because anything that would cause Danny to do that, Steve would never do.

No, the worst that would happen would be that Danny would give him that 'you are a goof, but I love you anyway' smile; they'd laugh, eat, and maybe have 'you are a goof, and let me show you how much I love you' sex.

He lit the last candle and looked over the scene one last time. Then he heard someone whistle behind him.

"I feel decidedly under-dressed, babe."

Steve grinned as he turned around, expecting board shorts and a tee, but finding jeans instead. Steve certainly approved, because, man, Danny's ass in those jeans... He hadn't wanted to ruin the surprise by telling Danny that there would be a surprise, so he just invited him over for dinner like he always did, no dress code.

 _"My place tonight?" He'd asked, sticking his head in Danny's office._

 _"Sounds good."_

 _"Cool. Gotta go to Pearl," a lie, "so I'll text you when I'm heading back? Six maybe?" Danny nodded and went back to his paperwork._

"I think you look amazing, Danno," he said, walking over and pulling him into a long, slow kiss.

"Uh huh," Danny said when the kiss ended, though they didn't really pull apart. "Says James Bond."

Steve finally pulled away, smirking.

"I gotta check on the food." Danny nodded, ran his hand down Steve's arm to lace their fingers together. He followed Steve inside.

"Whatcha makin'?" Steve's smirk grew but he remained silent.

He pulled his hand from Danny's so he could open the oven and peek inside, making sure to block Danny's view of the contents. He heard him huff in annoyance.

Steve closed the door and stood, leaning against it. He reached out to pull Danny to him. "Too far away," he mumbled for an excuse – as if he needed one – as he leaned down to inhale Danny's scent.

"Sap."

"Mmm hmm." Steve was unapologetic as he licked and nibbled at Danny's neck.

The detective sighed, tilted his head to give Steve better access, and ran his hands over Steve's ass, under his suit jacket, and settled at his sides.

"What's the occasion?"

"I love you?"

"You, ah, mmmm, you sound unsure."

Even though Steve knew Danny was joking, he pulled back to look into his eyes. "I love you."

Danny grinned, which was basically the best sight in the world, as far as Steve was concerned. "I know. I love you, too."

Steve knew that, had absolutely zero doubts about that, but every time Danny said it, it made Steve's heart skip a beat.

"So, really, what's the occasion?"

"Really. I love you. I wanted to do something nice for you. I mean, I've never done this for a guy before, but I figure it's not too different?" Steve had been with guys before, but he'd never exactly had to buy them dinner.

"It's great, babe." And yeah, that was definitely goof-but-love face there. Steve didn't think it was because Danny thought it was stupid though, but just because Steve was, in fact, a goof and Danny did, in fact, love him.

The oven dinged and Steve left Danny's embrace like he was a hot potato, despite the blonde's complaints. He'd put a lot of work into tonight, or at least into the meal, and he refused to ruin it. Even if it was for a good reason.

He heard Danny gasp as he started pulling stuff out of the oven. Garlic bread, roast vegetables and—

"Is that... chicken parmesan?"

"Oh, is it? Huh, I guess it is."

Danny took a closer look, a deeper sniff. "Steven, is this my mother's chicken parmesan?"

Steve just grinned and dished everything out onto the good plates, picked them up and started out to the lanai.

"Coming?"

He heard Danny follow behind, muttering to himself about his mother keeping secrets. He sounded fond and not at all annoyed. Steve set the plates on either side of the table, a few emergency candles in between acting as mood lighting along with the tiny white Christmas lights hung along the fence.

He pulled a bottle of white wine from the bucket where it was chilling and filled their glasses. He'd barely got them on the table before Danny grabbed his arm, turned him around, and pulled him down for a kiss. Steve let out a little moan and sunk into it. He let it go on for a couple of minutes, then broke it with a disappointed grunt.

"I put a lot of work into this meal. We are going to eat it before we get to that."

Danny gave a disappointed sigh until his eyes drifted to the plates and he remembered what they were about to eat. He sat with a grin and Steve followed. He picked up his wine glass to make a toast, but Danny was already digging into his parm. Steve chuckled, took a sip of water instead...

And almost chocked on it when Danny made a noise that Steve had only ever heard when he was doing that thing with his tongue Danny liked so much.

"Oh my God, Steven. This is amazing. Marry me!"

Steve just smirked and sent a silent thank you to Clara Williams before digging into his own meal.

* * *

a/n: I thought about having Steve propose, or even ask Danny to move in with him during the dinner, but decided I just wanted them to have a romantic evening 'just because'. :)


	6. If I Was Your Mother

**If I Was Your Mother**

Danny watched the office across from him, and Steve sitting at his desk pretending to work. If one could pretend to work while not moving his hands from where they rested on his keyboard for the last hour; and while his eyes drooped closed and his head slowly dropped down until he jerked himself awake. It was the fifth time Danny had seen him do that. He laughed, shut down his computer and headed off to find Kono, Chin and Lou to tell them he was taking the big baby home.

 _He'd woken up that morning to Steve's coughing as he put on his trunks for his usual (well, usually usual – Danny had managed to distract him a few times) morning swim._

 _"Hey babe," he'd said, voice still rough from a deep sleep. "Everything all right?"_

 _"Yeah. Going for my swim." Cough. Sniff. Cough. Voice deeper than usual, and not in that sexy way it got deep when he was promising dirty, filthy things in Danny's ear. He sat up in bed, eyes wide._

 _"Uh, no you're not."_

 _Steve smirked, red-nosed and sniffing and somehow still only barely half a percent less sexy than usual. Jerk. "Why? Got a better proposition for me?"_

 _And Danny maybe did, but more important seemed like it might be rest and fluids._

 _"You're sick, babe. You're not going swimming."_

 _Steve looked at him like he'd just told him Steve was some kind of terrorist. "I am not!"_

 _"Uh huh." Danny flopped back down, knew there was only one way Steve would refrain from going for that swim._

 _"You go outside for a swim, Steven," he said, slow and lazy, fingers flexing against his abs, "and you are not even gonna kiss me for the rest of the day."_

 _Steve stopped, one leg midair, ready to step into the trunks, narrowing his eyes at Danny as he tried to decide if he was bluffing or not. And then he coughed, almost causing him to face-plant._

 _"Completely serious, babe," Danny said through his laughter._

 _Steve sniffed, pouted, and flopped back onto the bed with a groan, where he'd stayed until it was time to refuse to stay home from work._

In his office, Steve jumped when Danny touched his shoulder. "Hey, it's just me." Steve took a deep breath, scrubbed at his face.

"What's up, Danno?"

"Let's get out of here, babe."

Steve frowned and looked at his watch. "It's only two."

"Uh huh, and I've been watching you fight sleep, and lose, for over an hour now."

"I haven't—" Danny raised an eyebrow. Steve sighed, closed his eyes, and leaned back in the chair. "I feel like shit, Danno," he finally admitted.

"Yeah babe, I know. I'm proud of you for admitting it." He reached out to knead Steve's shoulder and he groaned in appreciation. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone, although I think they already know." The groan turned decidedly less appreciative.

He rubbed along his arm. "Let's go, babe."

Danny logged Steve off of his computer, took his hand, and pulled him out of the chair. Steve took a moment and a deep breath, and squared his shoulders for the walk out of the Palace. He did not, however, let go of Danny's hand which, although their relationship was no secret, wasn't something they generally did on the clock.

He led his poor, sick baby into the bullpen, threw a wave in the others' direction, then out to the car. Steve, out of habit, or perhaps stubbornness, started toward the driver's side. Danny tightened his grip on his hand and tugged him in the opposite direction.

"Oh, no, Steven. We are not dying this afternoon because you fell asleep at the wheel."

Steve blinked once at him, then slid into the passenger's seat after Danny opened the door for him – hey, chivalry didn't have to be dead just because his lover's a dude.

"Get ready for the mother of all mother hens, babe."

Steve let out a quiet chuckle, fastened his seat belt, and leaned against the window.

"Thanks, Danno."


	7. Dry County

**Dry County**

a/n: This one wasn't inspired by the song title, but by the structure of the song – slow, fast, slow – which has always got to me more than the lyrics, for some reason...

And, hey, how's this for a good first word? lol

* * *

 _-5-0- Love -5-0-_

Sex with Steve was not the best part about their relationship. There was no doubt that it was fucking amazing – pun intended. In fact, it was the best Danny had ever had, and it wasn't just because they were good at it – though, hot damn, were they good at it. It was amazing because of the thing that was actually the best part about their relationship: the connection and the love they shared, and how well they knew each other. Even during the best years with Rachel, he'd never felt like this, never knew it could be like this.

The sex was like their relationship in general, like _them_. It was passion and intensity and love and laughter.

Sometimes it was 911-what's-your-emergency? I-don't-think-I-can-keep-it-in-my-pants-until-we-leave-the-Palace.

Sometimes it was machine guns and grenades and long range, heat-seeking missiles and hand-to-hand combat and explosions and screams.

Sometimes it was like it was right now, tonight: whispers and butterflies and feathers and marshmallows and cartography and torture and fire.

Steve had been worshipping his body – there was no other word for it, really – for what felt like hours already. Maybe it had been hours, Danny wasn't really interested in the time right now. And it didn't seem like he was planning on stopping any time soon. Danny was wound tight as a spring.

His knuckles were turning white where his hands gripped the slats of their bed. Thy only thing holding them there were Steve's words.

 _"Don't move," he'd said, holding Danny's hands on the pillow above his head._

 _He'd looked straight into Danny's eyes – into his soul, he was sure – with an intensity reserved only for him. The look screamed 'I love you'; it said 'you're everything to me'; it promised that Steve would do anything for him; it begged Danny to believe him. No begging was required, of course. Danny knew all of that, just like he knew Steve saw all of that in Danny. It was this secret they carried around with them about the other. Not many people – if any other than Danny – knew exactly what was under the gruff military exterior; just like Steve and Grace knew everything hiding under his Jersey bluster._

 _"Let me love you," he'd said, before releasing Danny's hands and proceeding to lay butterfly kisses and feather touches and whispered endearments over every inch of Danny's skin. It left Danny arching into the touch and begging to reciprocate._

He knew it would be a long while before Steve gave in to those pleas; it always was when he got like this.

It wasn't melancholy. It was pure happiness; unconditional love. To Danny, he looked like someone who just won the lottery and his prize was the taste of Danny's skin and the sound of Danny's gasps as he took him apart inch by inch.

And it wasn't like Steve was the only lottery winner here. He never teased Danny more than he could handle. And when the emotions and the sensations finally tipped Danny over the edge, it was always more intense than any hard and fast fuck. Steve would clean him with his tongue, mapping him in reverse, whispering 'I love you' against his lips. He'd peel Danny's fingers from the headboard, kiss his knuckles, soothe his sore fingers with his tongue, trace over his little tattoos with his teeth.

He'd finally fall asleep with his lover's arms around him, his ear to Danny's heart.

 _-5-0- War -5-0-_

Steve had seen a lot of horrible shit in The Teams. Terrorists and insurgents with twisted ideals and extremist views. But the worst monsters were right here in his own back yard. The most horrible crimes he'd seen the evidence of were in his home town.

Still, Steve was happy. He was deliriously happy. The kind of happy that unhappy people – like he and Danny had both been, once upon a time – hated. He couldn't help it. He had Danny to wake up to every morning. He had Grace and Charlie – he had kids! Or at least, he had Danny's kids that he loved as his own, that he made horribly disfigured animal-shaped (so he insisted) pancakes for and ganged up on Danny with just to make him rant. He even had Mary and Joanie, even if they were thousands of miles away.

Steve McGarrett's life was damn near perfect, something he never thought would be possible for him, even a couple of years ago.

But every once in a while, his brain would decide it needed to remind his heart who was in charge here. He could never predict when that would happen. Sometimes, the nightmare would come after a hard case, sometimes they came when he was so content with life that it had actually been days or weeks since he'd last thought about all that shit he'd gone through.

Still, he was used to the nightmares. He hated them, but he was used to them. Panic attacks? He was an old pro. The thing was, being deliriously happy meant he actually had something to lose now. And whatever part of his brain that was in charge of programming his nightmares ensured he knew it.

There were still bullets and mortar rounds, death and betrayal. There was still Wo Fat and Doris and Afghanistan and that plane over the Pacific. Sarin, Colombia. They were all there, all the same as they always had been.

But sometimes, they morphed. Sometimes, Danny was the one Wo Fat had taken, and Wo Fat was a better shot in those dreams than he had been in real life. Sometimes Danny was the one in Afghanistan, and the rescue team arrived thirty seconds later. Sometimes Danny, or even one of the kids, was the one riddled with bullet holes over the Pacific and no one was a match.

Those were the nightmares that kept him up at night, that even Danny had trouble talking him down from. Because Danny had always joked that Steve would be the death of him and in the darkness, Steve believed it, couldn't be talked out of it.

All they could do was wait it out. Wait for the light of day to wash away the fear – Grace's voice over the phone, or her bright smile at breakfast, and Charlie's innocence.

After the first time, Danny never made that joke again.

The flashbacks... those were new. These weren't just memories that came to him that he could acknowledge and let pass while he was standing on his beach, sand squished between his toes, watching Danny and the kids playing in the water. These were actual conscious nightmares that took him away from his beach and transported him into whatever fresh hell his brain had decided to play for him that day.

It hadn't happened very often, but after the first one, he'd told Danny he would leave when the kids came around. If he didn't know where he was, how could he be sure he wouldn't—

Danny'd told him he was an idiot and held him and promised him he wasn't going crazy. He already _was_ crazy, after all. Somehow that made him laugh and the panic started to release its grip on his heart.

 _-5-0- Love -5-0-_

Steve wasn't the only one who could take things slow.

As much as Danny loved his children, wanted them with him all the time, he was able to acknowledge the opportunity and take advantage of a day off without them.

Like making sure he woke up before Steve, if only to wear him out so much he didn't go for his usual crazy-ass workout. He'd make sure Steve slept until noon – because not only was that the right and proper thing to do on a Sunday morning, but Steve needed it, even if he wouldn't admit it. Then they'd shower together. Maybe they'd bother to put some boxers on when they went downstairs to make some coffee, get some breakfast.

Danny would press his body against Steve's back, kiss his shoulder, as he walked behind him to put bread in the toaster. Steve would take Danny's hand, lick the jam off his fingers. Danny would feed him a piece of pineapple, then steal the juice from his lips. They'd sit tangled together on the couch and call the kids while they shared their breakfast off the same plate, feeding each other and smiling and laughing while Grace and Charlie spun their tales.

Then, they'd get naked again, go back to bed, or maybe the couch on the lanai, if Danny was feeling adventurous. They'd laze around and steal kisses and touches and whisper promises to each other and Steve never once even looked like he was going to complain about the wasted day.

Because this was not a waste, not when the job meant this was such a rare occurrence.

Then it was Danny's turn to take his prize of Steve's taste and Steve's gasps as he took him apart piece by piece, proving to Steve, through not just his touch, but his words, that he deserved all of this.

Because Steve was pretty and he was strong and he was confident in so many areas of his life, but not always in this.

 _"I don't know what I did to deserve you, Danny."_

 _"I can't believe this isn't a dream."_

And, on his darker days – because everyone has those, no matter how much you love and are loved, it's just that Steve's are a bit darker than most –

 _"How are you still here?"_

 _"Why me?"_

And it wasn't fishing for compliments, but genuine curiosity and confusion. It was something that, even if he felt with others, he would never voice to anyone but Danny. That was how much they trusted each other.

"Because you are amazing, Steven, and I love you."


	8. (wo)Man in Love

**(wo)Man in Love**

a/n - so this was supposed to be Grace's observation of her men and their love for each other. And it touches on that a bit. Instead, it turned out to be more about her relationship with Steve. But I still liked it, so I didn't scrap and rewrite.

* * *

"Steve!"

Grace smiled when she saw her... dad's boyfriend? standing next to his truck. She sighed. He hadn't been 'uncle' Steve since he and Danno had told her they were together. It maybe frustrated her a bit that she didn't know what to call him.

She never had that problem with Gabby or Amber... Melissa, whatever. She called them by their name and they were just her dad's girlfriends. NBD

But Steve was more than that. She knew he was more than that to her Danno. And not just because they'd actually moved in to Steve's house a couple months after getting together. Steve cared about her as a person, not just because she was his boyfriend's kid. He'd cared about her long before they'd become a thing.

Steve and Danno weren't married, but he was permanent. She knew that. Like a Step-Steve, but that didn't feel right now anymore than it had that night she'd tried it out for the first time.

Step-Stan worked for Stan. It was sort of impersonal, sort of like their relationship. She knew he cared about her and she had thawed to him when she found out what had happened to him when she'd been kidnapped; that he'd been hurt trying to protect her. But he still wasn't free with his affection; she was still just Rachel's daughter. And since everything with Charlie, well, she wasn't so sure how permanent Step-Stan would actually be.

But Steve, he gave his love freely, always had, which was surprising when her father had told her more about him, when she'd got a bit older. And he'd always been like that with both of them.

Stan felt like 'Step-Stan'. Steve felt like 'Dad'.

And it wasn't just how he treated her, and Charlie too - after all, Danno wasn't the only one that just flipped a switch when he found out about Charlie, instantly falling in love with him - that made her think that.

Even in movies, she'd never seen people in love look at each other or treat each other like Danno and Steve, even before they'd got together. The looks they gave each other, the little touches, the complete lack of personal space, the 'I love yous' and 'babes' and snark, everything they did for each other.

Grace was getting a bit old for fairy tales, but that was exactly what this was, as far as she was concerned. The Knight in Shining Armour saved the other Knight in Shining Armour, except there were guns instead of swords and Kevlar instead of chain mail and grenades in the saddlebag of a dark stallion named Camaro.

She giggled.

"Whatcha laughing at, kiddo?" Steve asked, ruffling her hair.

"Nothing."

"Uh huh."

He started pull the seat aside so she could climb in the back, then seemed to remember that she was old enough to sit in the front now. He fixed the seat and moved aside with a sheepish grin.

"Sorry."

"That's okay."

She realized this was the first time he'd come to see her alone since... since Danno had been arrested. Her smile faltered a bit as she slid into the seat.

"Everything okay, Gracie?"

"Where's Danno?"

She watched something approaching aneurysm face appear – maybe he had just realized the same thing? Then it disappeared and he smiled down at her, put his hand on her shoulder.

"He's fine, Grace. He got held up in court giving evidence on one of our cases. He's gonna meet us at home, okay?"

She was not expecting the flood of relief that washed through her. She looked up at him and he looked worried, like he'd done something wrong. That was not a face he should ever wear. She was sure her father would agree... unless he actually did something wrong.

Like if he put pineapple on Danno's pizza or something.

She smiled at him and nodded. "Okay. Sorry."

He squeezed her shoulder. "Hey listen to me, okay?" She nodded. "You have got nothing to be sorry about, you hear me? That whole thing – a lot of stuff you've had to deal with – it's not so easy to forget, yeah? I think about it a lot too. If you ever need to talk about it, you know you can talk to your dad, right?" She nodded again, tears starting to make her vision blurry. "And if, for whatever reason, you don't want to talk to him, you know I'm always here for you, okay? Always."

She could only nod. He smiled at her, sniffed suspiciously himself, which caused him to smile more, and pulled her closer to kiss the top of her head.

Just like he had done since she was eight, only months after meeting her. Before that first meeting, Danno warned her that it was okay if Steve scared her a little bit, because he wasn't good with kids, and if that was the case, then she should let him know. He wanted her to meet his friends, but he didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

Grace had always wondered if there was a second Steve she was supposed to have met at that football game, but maybe hadn't shown up. Like the thought of meeting Danny's kid had scared _him_ away. The only explanation she could think of was that Steve had loved Danno even back then. The thought that they'd waited so very long to admit their feelings to each other made her a little sad.

Steve closed his door and the sound knocked her out of her memories. He looked over at her, like always, to make sure she was buckled in.

"You know I love you, Gracie, right?"

"I know. I love you too, Dad."

Steve fumbled the keys before he got them in the ignition.


	9. Fear

**Fear**

The sound of the slamming door followed Danny all the way to the Camaro. He got in it alone and the sound followed him all the way to the Palace. It did not matter that he was the one that slammed it, leaving Steve in the living room, still yelling at him.

It wasn't the first time they'd had an actual fight. You couldn't have two alpha males working high stress jobs living together and not have fights. Especially when these alpha males were so comfortable with each other, and one of them was not used to expressing his feelings. This was, however, the first time it had lasted more than a couple of hours.

They'd been snapping at each other for almost a week.

That was, when they were talking to each other at all.

They went to bed together every night, so at least there was that, and woke up in each other's arms each morning. But the warmth didn't last more than a few minutes before a look would come over Steve's face and he'd leave the bed. They'd meet in the kitchen for their morning coffee and breakfast, eaten in silence, drive to work together, in silence, stay in their separate offices as much as possible. They worked fine together, thank God, even if the team had obviously noticed something was up. Anything said outside of the job, however, was laced with anger, if they weren't outright shouting.

The only time they'd said anything good to each other was when Steve woke from a nightmare. Danny would soothe and comfort him, just like always, because they might be fighting, but they still loved each other. The only thing different about these nights were that Steve wouldn't tell him what they were about. Danny tried not to feel hurt at that. And the nightmares were more frequent – every night this week, instead of just once in a while.

Last night there had been two. Steve went to sleep on the couch, but Danny wouldn't have it. He made Steve lay back down, wrapped his arms around him, and told him he loved him.

"I love you, too, Danno."

And then this morning had happened.

Between being too stressed about the fighting to fall asleep and then being woken up by Steve's nightmares when he did, Danny was snappy just due to lack of sleep and then more snappy because Steve was snappy. He tried to think back and figure out which came first – had Steve's nightmares gotten worse, making him tired and King Crankypants, in which case, why? Or had his cranky ass mood brought on the nightmares? In which case, what brought on the mood?

All he knew was that something was bothering Steve and he was not talking about.

He thought they were passed that, and that worried him more than anything else – he was worried about Steve.

That's not to say he wasn't still pissed and angry, though. He was only human and Steve was being an ass. They had to get this sorted tonight. They had the kids this weekend and he didn't want to subject them to their fighting. They had enough of that with Rachel and Stan, and Grace had already had enough of that between him and Rachel.

Kono walked into the offices while Danny was looking at the Surface Table like it was personally offending him. It was still on its screensaver, but Danny was seeing Steve and his issues.

"Hey Danny, where's your other half?" She startled him from his thoughts. Her hair was still damp – either from the surf, or from washing the surf off and it made him wonder what Steve was doing.

"No idea," he replied, with a tone that he was pretty sure said 'drop it'.

"What's going on with you guys, brah?" Okay, so she ignored the tone. "We hate seeing mom and dad fight."

He winced, thinking once again about Grace and Charlie. But the last thing he wanted to do was bring their friends into this. Steve definitely wouldn't want their dirty laundry aired, at least, no more than it already was.

"Drop it, Kono." She opened her mouth to say something, but Danny's phone, sitting on the table, buzzed.

 _Call me if we case a case otherwise I'm staying home today._

Danny couldn't decide whether to be angry at Steve for ditching them – Danny knew damn well he wasn't sick – or worried enough that he wanted to go home now and check on him.

His thumbs twitched with indecision.

No matter what, Danny loved Steve. Finally, he texted back.

 _You ok?_

There was no reply for a moment, so he looked up at Kono.

'Steve's not coming in today."

"Brah, seriously, what's going on?" She moved closer and put her hand on his arm. He sighed again. Kono was their friend, their Ohana.

"Something's up with Steve, but I don't know what. I'll figure it out, but just leave it alone, got me?" He hoped his tone was a little more clear this time. The last thing they needed was their well-meaning friends getting in the way and pushing. She looked at him for a moment and nodded.

 _No_ the response finally came. Danny blinked at the honesty.

 _I'll come home_ he texted back, already moving to the exit.

 _don't_ an immediate response. Danny stopped, chewed his lip.

 _we're talking about this tonight._

 _yeah Danno. I'll be here_

 _love you_

 _love u 2_

-5-0—

He'd managed to last most of the day, hiding behind paperwork to occupy him in between going out to interview witnesses with Kono and then Lou.

Finally around three, they ganged up on him and forced him to go home early. He didn't put up a fight. The only reason he hadn't gone home first thing this morning was because he figured Steve needed some time alone and the only reason he hadn't gone home at any other time through the day was that they'd texted back and forth a few times.

Steve's truck had moved at some point during the day and Danny wondered where he would have gone that wasn't work. The house was quiet when he entered it. He dropped his keys near the door and walked farther into the room. There was a book laying open on the coffee table and he saw Steve's scrawl on the pages. He thought it might look like a pilot's log book, although he'd never seen Steve's before. He honestly had never even thought about Steve having one before now.

He heard the clang of metal on metal and followed the sound out to the garage. He watched Steve for a moment, muscles rippling under a greasy tank as he cranked on something in the engine. Steve jumped when he spotted Danny, hitting his head on the hood.

"Son of a bitch!"

Danny laughed at him, moved closer and rubbed at his lover's head. When Steve didn't move away from the first real touch they'd shared this week outside of their bed, Danny dropped his hand to his cheek. Steve closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

"Hey," Danny said when the hazel eyes met his.

"You're home early."

"Yeah, well, the guys finally had enough of me. They kicked me out of my own office, can you believe it!"

Steve let out a quiet chuckle. "Yes." And then the hint-o-smile left. "I'm sorry."

Danny's thumb traced over his cheekbone.

"Ya gotta talk to me, babe. What's going on?"

Steve nodded, turned his head to kiss Danny's palm, then took a step back and a deep breath. He wiped his hands on the end of his tank and took Danny's.

"Come with me."

He led Danny back into the house and to the couch. They sat down next to each other and Danny enjoyed the warmth of Steve where they touched from shoulder to knee.

Their fingers laced together, Steve leaned in, breathing Danny in at his neck, like he wanted to remind himself what Danny smelled like.

"I've been an asshole."

"Yeah," Danny agreed, but was also maybe giving Steve encouragement as he rested his head on Danny's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I just, I—"

"I know babe. You've been dealing with something. I just wish you'd tell me what it was instead of bottling it all up."

"I'm scared." He said it so quiet, burrowed so far into Danny, the detective almost didn't hear him.

"Oh, babe." Danny knew that was that probably the hardest thing Steve had ever said. He wrapped his arms around Steve, kissed his head, then pulled away far enough to look in his eyes. They were shining with tears. "You gotta know I'm not going anywhere."

"I do, Danny, I—" his eyes slid over to the coffee table and Danny's followed. To the book. The pilot's log book. Oh. Danny reached over to pick it up and held it in his lap, looking it over.

Steve pulled away just enough to look down at it, too, took Danny's hand again, like he couldn't get enough of touching him now that he was allowing it again.

Another deep breath and he finally spoke again, but kept his eyes on the book.

"In order to keep your pilot's license, you need to get in so much flight time. It's never been a problem before, between reserve duty and Five-0. But since..." Danny squeezed Steve's hand tighter. "Since I'm not in the Navy anymore, it's been harder to get my hours in, but..."

He was scared of flying. Danny knew this, had watched him sit, tight and stiff as a rake, when they were flying around with Langford, and it wasn't just because he wasn't in the driver's seat.

"Since the—" Danny watched him swallow hard. "Since the... transplant, I've been doing the bare minimum in a flight sim at Hickam. But I've been putting it off. I need to fly again in the next week or..."

Danny got it. Steve had lost a lot when Danny'd given him his liver. A big part of his life, actually, when the Navy had discharged him. He'd seemed to take it better than Danny expected, but he supposed Steve had been in the reserves so long, serving his country in other ways with Five-0, that perhaps it hadn't felt any different.

But for all Steve was a Navy guy, he loved to fly. He lost the Navy because the alternative was death. To lose flying simply because of fear... Danny knew that would be a hard pill for Steve to swallow. Maybe too hard.

"Babe."

"I just... I'm so thankful for what you did, Danny, so we could have this." He ran his thumb across Danny's knuckles. "I just... don't want to lose this, too." He huffed in annoyance. "It's stupid and I can't believe I've been as asshole all week because of it."

"Hey, hey. Look at me." He did. "It's not stupid, okay? I don't regret a thing that I did, but I am sorry that you lost the Navy, babe. But you don't have to lose this, huh? You can just go back to the sim, right, until you're ready? Are you having issues in the sim?"

Steve shook his head. "No. I'm fine there, but every time I even think about..." He pulled away, held his head in his hands. "And so what's the point if I can't actually fly anymore? It's just teasing myself with something I can't have. I'm sorry I've been an ass, I'm just... I didn't think something like this would hit me so hard and I'm sorry I took it out on you. I'm not used to..." He took a deep breath. "I'm not used to being scared," he whispered after a moment, leaned back against the couch.

He seemed so young to Danny in that moment. He didn't think he'd ever seen Steve look so scared as he did this moment – because of the thought of doing something he enjoyed so much. He lifted his hand from the book, touched Steve's cheek before placing it over his heart, beating furiously.

"Steve."

"Sorry, Danny, I—"

"Do you want to fly again, babe?"

"Of course I do, Danny, I... I..." In one swift motion, he scowled in frustration, stood and took the book from Danny's lap and threw it across the room. "But I can't, okay? I can't."

He stood there shaking as he released the fear and the anger that Danny knew was at himself, at his own... weakness. Danny stood, walked around to face Steve and took his hands, clenched into tight fists. It took a moment, but he coaxed them open, laced one hand with Steve's and used the other to snake behind his head, bring him down for a kiss. They sighed into it, but Danny wouldn't be distracted for long.

He broke the kiss, wiped away Steve's tears. "You gotta fly again babe. You can fly again."

"I can't Danny, okay? You told me I wasn't Superman, well you were right, okay?"

"Yeah, and I've told you're a Neanderthal, too. You have selective hearing, babe."

"Danny..."

"You're going to get us a plane and—"

"Us? No, Danny, absolutely not."

"You're gonna do this babe, I know you can. You think I'm gonna let you do this alone?"

"No, Danny." Steve's grip on Danny's hand was almost crushing, and he closed his eyes. Danny could only imagine what was going through his mind. Bullets, crashing planes, transplants. "If I can't do it, I don't want to... you can't be there. If anything happens because of me..."

"Hey. It's gonna be hard and I'm going to be right there with you to help you. You're gonna get us a plane and fly me somewhere hellishly idyllic and we'll stay there and fuck for a couple days and then you'll fly me home. Got me?"

Steve looked down at him, unconvinced. Danny just met and held his gaze, ran his fingers along Steve's hairline at the back of his neck. Danny could be quiet when it was needed. And it was needed now. Steve was a scared horse. If Danny wasn't careful, all that strength would bolt.

Finally, the tension the stallion's body dissipated and Danny gathered him in his arms.

* * *

a/n: I wanted a story that addressed the flying issue. Originally it was going to be separate from this story/series. But I also wanted a chapter in this story that showed things weren't perfect all the time, because nothing's perfect all the time. In the end, I'm not sure how well this one works but... here you go.

I didn't write the actual flight, but you can assume that Steve did have issues, but not horribly bad, Danny helped him through it and the weekend otherwise went as Danny planned. :)


	10. I Want You

**I Want You**

 _a/n – a collection of outsider views on McDanno. Takes place at various random times through their relationship. Based on a comment request, this was going to be about jealousy, but seeing as it comes right after 'Fear', I wanted something a bit lighter. But all these vignettes have a certain kind of jealousy anyway._ _:)_

* * *

 ** _-5-0—a waitress -5-0-_**

She watched the group enter the bar and head to a large, round table in her section. They seemed to know exactly where they were going, like they were regulars, but she'd never seen them before. Of course, she'd only been on the job for a week. She grabbed five menus and headed toward the table.

A tall man, dark-haired, tattoos peeking out from the rolled-up sleeves of his over shirt, caught her eye. Of course he did; the guy was hot.

He had his arms across the chair backs of both of his neighbours, but he was leaning in to talk to the woman next to him.

A native guy a few seats away from him noticed her waiting and smiled in greeting.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Nalani and I'll be your server tonight." She started to hand out the menus, but the native guy waved them off.

"We're just here for some celebratory drinks."

"Great! What can I get you guys?"

Hot Guy looked up from his conversation and smiled at her and holy shit she hoped those two weren't a couple because she would _so_ like to get in on that action. His napkin would definitely have seven digits written on them, that's for damn sure.

"You're new?" He asked, looking her over. "Haven't seen you around before."

"I am," she replied, laying on the charm, flirting back.

"Are you seriously flirting with the waitress right now, McGarrett?" The blond guy next to him asked. "Tonight, of all nights?"

"C'mon, Danno. I'm just being nice."

Blondie scoffed and when Hot Guy turned to him, she could see it instantly. No need to worry about the girl, but she still didn't have a shot with him. His arm dropped down to Blondie's shoulder, his hand to Blondie's neck. And the look they shared... well, she didn't think she'd ever seen a look like that before. And she'd even been a part of marriage proposals at her old job. They just looked at each other for a minute and then Blondie smiled and so did Hot Guy.

Then there was a loud, gruff laugh from the other side of the table.

"Looks like we've lost the lovebirds. The rest of us will have a round of Longboards, please."

Nalani smiled and nodded and started to head to the bar.

"Us, too!"

She looked back to find Blondie looking panic-stricken, like he was worried he would lose out on a beer. She laughed and nodded again.

"What?" She heard him say as she continued on to the bar. "I had to go without for a very long time-"

 ** _-5-0-Rachel -5-0-_**

Rachel hoped Danny wouldn't mind her coming by early. She wouldn't dream of making her children leave until they were supposed to, of course, she just didn't have anywhere to go. Stan had blown up at her again and they both needed time to cool down before the kids got back, but she hadn't had time to actually go anywhere, so she just came here. To Steve's house.

It still seemed strange to her to pick her kids up here. Or, at least, it was strange to pick them up here when this was their home and not just the hangout for the day. When Danny had told her, a year ago, that not only was he seeing Steve, but moving in with him, she had been shocked. She knew he had seen men when he was younger, but didn't know, well, that it was still a thing. Thinking back on the times she had seen him and Steve together, or heard Danny talk about him, she supposed it shouldn't really have been a surprise.

Rachel took a deep breath, got out of the car and started up the front walk. She'd only made it a few steps before she heard her children out back. She changed direction and followed the path behind the house. As she emerged from the shrubbery at the back of the house, she was frozen in place at the sight before her.

Steve, Grace and Charlie were racing around the yard. Charlie was screaming both with laughter and because he was being chased. Steve had his arms stretched out pretending to try and catch him. Grace... Grace was not sulking or listening to music, or attached to her phone. She was, in fact, leading the race, trying to stay just out of arm's reach of Charlie. She was laughing so hard Rachel wasn't sure how she was able to actually run.

Suddenly Steve reached forward that little bit and scooped Charlie up, holding him over his head like a prize for a moment before tucking him under arm and speeding up to catch Grace. She yelped and sped up as well.

Steve took a moment to put Charlie back on his feet with a "wait here, buddy" and took off after Grace, now running full out in laps around the yard.

"No, Dad! Don't!" but her laughter didn't stop, so she obviously wasn't too worried.

But Rachel had stopped paying attention.

Grace had called Steve 'dad'. Rachel looked around the yard, but didn't see Danny anywhere, so that could be the only explanation.

She'd never called Stan 'dad'. Rachel always thought that was because Danny was her father and she just didn't want to call anyone else that. But here she was calling Steve that, with neither of them reacting, like she did it all the time, even though he was still just 'Steve' when she was with Rachel and Stan.

How could she be so disrespectful of Stan, the man Rachel had been married to longer than Grace had even known Steve? Who took a bullet for her? Scowling, she was about to call out to her daughter when Danny came out of the house carrying three bottles of water, unaware of her still standing at the edge of the house.

"All right you crazy animals," he said, handing out the bottles. "It's time for everyone to go in and get dressed like civilized people."

A chorus of "But Danno!" from everyone, including Steve, rang out.

"No 'but Dannos' – seriously Steve, why do you always get to be the fun parent?" Steve grinned; Danny looked down at the kids. "Your mom's gonna be here soon."

Grace's smile vanished.

"Hey, kiddo, what's this?" Steve asked, placing his hand on her head. She looked at him, then Danno, but didn't say anything. "Gracie, your mom and Stan, they love you just as much as we do, okay?" A pause. A look. Danny was looking at Steve like he was hanging the moon. She remembered when he looked at her like that. Well, almost like that. She was not sure Stan had ever come close. She hated Steve a little bit more at that moment. "They do. And Danno and me? Every minute you're not with us breaks our hearts, and we know it does them, too. We have to share because we all love you both so much. Okay?"

Another pause, then: "Okay."

"Okay."

So maybe he _was_ 'dad', after all.

Didn't mean Rachel had to like it.

 ** _-5-0—a beach barista, but also some assholes on the beach, because some people are assholes -5-0-_**

Sitting at her coffee stand on the beach, Hilary smiles at the two men standing nearby. They hold hands, but that doesn't seem to stop the shorter man from talking with his. He seems to be trying very hard to convince his taller partner about something. Tall, dark, and taken just looks down at him with a fond expression. The kind Sam had for her.

"Daniel, I think the nice lady here would like it if we would hurry up and order our coffee," TDT says, smiling and eyes twinkling.

"No, Steven. No, she does not want us to order yet. You wanna know why? Because she wants us to wait until I have ensured that you understand the appropriate way to drink coffee, especially coffee as good and perfect as this coffee. Shut up, babe," TDT hasn't done anything more than smirk. "Butter – I don't care how gourmet it is – butter does not belong in your fucking coffee." Daniel blinks, turns to Hilary and gives her a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

She doesn't have a chance to reply before a couple of other guys approach the cart. Hilary's seen these guys before. Jerks. They bad-mouth her customers, are rude to everyone else, litter... Nothing she can really call the cops about, but enough that she always feels the need to apologize to her customers. And it's not like she can just throw them out, like she would in a coffee shop; they're on a public beach.

She watched them look at Steven and Daniel, standing so close they're touching, and not just where they're holding hands. The jerks sneer.

"You _should_ be sorry," one of them says.

"Yeah, take that inside. The rest of us don't need to see that shit."

Daniel, mouth open to say something else – Hilary's under the impression he's always talking – stops, closes his mouth, blinks and turns to face them. She thinks she hears Steven say something, but it's too quiet for her to make it out.

"Did you... did you just insult two guys who, even without the guns we are clearly packing right here on our hips, could take you both out in two seconds flat?"

Jerk number two just laughs. "Yeah, we also saw your badges. You're cops, pussy haole cops. Y'ain't gonna do anything to us."

"I'm not a—"

Daniel raises an eyebrow at his companion. "Seriously, babe, not the time." He turns back to her resident jerks, who look very smug, with their crossed arms and disgusted smirks. "My very large friend here probably even has a grenade stuffed in one of his many pockets." Hilary's eyes go wide and she looks at Steven. The way he's grinning makes her think he actually just might. "So we're not your regular cops. But you're right, I'm not gonna shoot you. Book 'em, babe." The jerks laugh.

Steven also laughs, but it's more fond. "For what, Danno? Being an asshole isn't illegal."

"I'm sure it won't be hard to come up with something that'll stick."

"Too much paperwork."

Instead, Steven pulls Daniel back to him, holds him close with a hand at the back of Daniel's head as he leans down for a long, slow kiss. Jerks both let out disgusted groans and gags, a couple of slurs.

Hilary thinks it looked like a nice kiss. A very nice kiss, indeed.

Suddenly, she wishes her cart had air conditioning.

She hears Daniel moan into the kiss and it makes her blush – c'mon, these guys were hot – but she's not sure if the kiss is just that good – it looks fucking amazing from where she's standing – or if he's putting on a show for the assholes. Quite frankly, if someone was kissing her like that, she wouldn't remember her own name, let alone that there were people around them. But then his hand moves from Steven's side to his own holster. He flicks the snap open and wraps his hand around his gun.

"Oh shit," one of the jerks say before they both scurry away.

Steven slowly pulls away from the kiss. Daniel blinks at him almost as slow.

"Uh, not that I'm complaining or anything, but since when are you interested in PDA?" He licks his lips, like it wouldn't mind some more PDA. Steven shrugs with one shoulder, smirking.

"Guess I was just inspired."

"Uh huh."

He finally releases Daniel's hand and steps up to Hilary's cart.

"Hey, sorry about that. Two coffees, please." She smiles and nods and prepares their coffee as he pulls out his wallet.

"On the house," she announces, handing them over. He starts to object. "No, really. Maybe you guys finally scared them away enough that they won't come back. Thanks."

"Thanks," he says, taking the cups, and they start to walk away.

"Are you kidding me right now, McGarrett? The one time you actually pull out your wallet and-"

The rant trails off as they move away too far for her to hear. She smiles, thinking about Sam. Their relationship's new, but Hilary hopes one day they love each other as much as Steven and Daniel already do.


	11. Blame it On the Love of Rock and Roll

**Blame it On the Love of Rock and Roll**

Danny had bought him a guitar. And it was not a cheap guitar.

Danny had bought him a guitar, even though their bickering had a bit more bite in it at the time. He'd bought it just because he wanted Steve to have it, to work through issues that not only held him back when he was younger, but in some ways still were.

That was not something friends did for each other. Not even best friends, not even for birthdays or Christmases. Maybe Steve started to have hope.

But then Colombia happened, and Catherine had shown up and there was Charlie and Lynn and Deb. It wasn't until Danny had given him half his liver – another amazing over-the-top gift – that Steve had been ready to think about those feelings again.

When he'd got home the night Danny gave it to him, he hid it way where he couldn't see it. Just thinking about it brought back all those teenaged feelings and threatened him with a panic attack. The problem was: he couldn't _stop_ thinking about it, or at least, he couldn't stop thinking about the look on Danny's face when he'd given it to him – nerves and hope and love.

Danny never asked about it, but Steve was sure he saw his friend looking around for it whenever he was at the house. He knew that was the case when, one morning before work, Danny's eyes landed on the shiny guitar displayed prominently in the living room on a guitar stand Steve had just purchased for it. His friend's grin had been contagious.

It wasn't long after that when Steve finally plucked up the courage to actually strum it again. He couldn't remember any of the songs he'd learned as a kid, could barely remember chords, but he spent many nights just holding it and strumming it and getting used to the feel of it in his arms. He started to develop calluses on his hands that didn't match his gun grip.

He watched YouTube videos and bought sheet music and by the time Catherine returned, he'd learned several songs – no coincidence that his new repertoire only included Jersey natives.

And, okay, maybe one or two of the most Hawaiian songs he could think of, just to piss off Danny.

He never played for Catherine.

She saw the guitar, asked him to play her something. He refused.

The first time Danny heard him play, it was an accident. Catherine had arranged a girls' night out with some of her friends – looking back on it, Steve wondered if that had been the truth; he'd never even met any of her friends – and not expected back until the morning. He'd brought the guitar out to the chairs by the water to practice his newest Bon Jovi song.

At some point, Danny had come by – Steve never did learn why – and found him out back, perhaps led there by the music. He'd been smart and not made a noise to let Steve know he was there until he'd put the instrument down in its case.

Danny had slipped into his chair, took a beer out of the cooler at Steve's feet. "Bon Jovi, huh? Nice."

It had been the first mention of the guitar since he'd given it to him and the last of that night.

After that, however, it was open season for Danny whenever he was alone with Steve at the beach house.

"Cheer me up, babe," he'd say when his team was losing. "Play me something."

And Steve would play him something.

"Learn anything new lately, babe?"

"Uh, yeah. Maybe."

"Show me."

And Steve would show him.

The first time Steve played for Danny without prompting was a joke. Literally.

They'd been together about a month and were horsing around when Steve thought what Danny needed most was to be serenaded. With one of those Hawaiian ditties he'd learned for just such an occasion.

Danny's look of disgust quickly morphed into a smile so bright it made Steve stop playing for a moment. Steve smiled back, looked down, and started to play a ballad.

It was another five months or so before his audience of one grew again, to where it would stay – three. The only three that mattered to Steve – Danny, Grace and Charlie.

After that, music was a regular occurrence in the McGarret-Williams household. Charlie would always sit next to Steve and try to strum along with him, getting his fingers tangled with Steve's and with the strings. Eventually, Steve would just put the guitar on the floor and show him more or less where his fingers should go.

Charlie had no stage fright. When the Ohana was over for BBQ or parties, Charlie would get Steve to help him pull out the guitar and put it on the floor so he could strum and bang away on it, making his own music to entertain their friends.

And then one day...

Steve closed the door behind him and placed his purchase on the floor, then started toward the sounds coming from the kitchen.

"Hey, babe, I thought we'd have—" Danny started, until he actually looked up at Steve. "What did you do? You have I-blew-up-the-Camaro face."

"I didn't mean to do it!"

"You blew up the Camaro!" Danny dropped the knife he was holding on the counter.

"What? No! Danny, I—Come here." Steve took his hand and led him out to the living room. Danny stopped when he saw the guitar case sitting by the door. It was too small to be Steve's.

"What did you do?" He asked again, but it was softer this time and a smile was forming on his face.

Steve winced and turned to face his fiancé. The look he found on Danny's face was not annoyance or anger, but amusement.

"I—I didn't mean to." Amusement morphed into the only-for-Steve Goof-but-love grin.

"And how does one not 'mean to' buy a guitar, Steven?" They were still holding hands and Danny tugged him closer, running his thumb over Steve's knuckles.

"Well, I had to go to the music store to get new strings and I saw this guitar there, perfect size for Charlie and I thought, I mean, I don't care about him playing with mine, but I thought he seemed really interested and maybe he should have one the right size for him so I could teach—"

Danny wasn't the only one who could be effectively silenced with a kiss.

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"Huh?" Danny gave him another quick kiss and left him so he could take the guitar over to the couch and have a look at it.

"Why are you freaking out, babe?"

"I'm not fr—" he sighed. "Because we didn't talk about it. I should have asked you. Maybe you don't want him to have it. I can take it back."

"C'mere, you goof." Steve went, sitting next to Danny on the couch. "Charlie's going to be your son, too, officially, in about 27 days." And 15 hours and 17 minutes, but who was counting?

"Yeah, but, with Stan..." Danny blinked, furrowed his brow and then seemed to realize what Steve was talking about.

"Babe, babe. You are nothing like Stan, okay? I was really angry back then—"

Steve laughed. "I don't know whether to go with 'I hadn't noticed' or 'only back then?'."

"Har, har, you animal. Yes, I was angry. Stan was married to the woman I was still in love with and he'd dragged me halfway across the world to this rock and he was buying my daughter shit to make her like and him and to prove to everyone he was better than me.

"But I know you, babe. You bought this because you love Charlie and you wanted to do something nice for him. I can't wait to see his face and watch you teach him. Besides, I'm used to this by now. It's not like you asked before paying for that weekend with the dolphins when we barely knew each other."

Steve grinned. Why does he ever worry about these things? "I love you."

"Love you, too, you big gooey marshmallow." Danny pulled him closer, kissed him long and slow over the guitar.

"Now, one of us wants to buy something that's gonna break the bank, or is alive, or will give me a heart attack, then maybe we need to talk about that first.


	12. Little Bit of Soul

**Little Bit of Soul**

"Dance with me," Steve says. He has to yell over the music, which contrasts with the way he's nosing along the side of Danny's face.

Danny turns to him, all raised eyebrow and smirking. "You want me to what?"

"You heard me."

"Since when do you want to dance? Especially in public?" But he's following Steve anyway, letting him take his hand and lead him to the dance floor. There are only a handful of other couples out there, so two men draws a lot of attention. Danny doesn't care. He'll shout it out from the rooftops how much he loves Steve.

They don't talk about the time he actually did that. He was drunk, all right?

"What? I'm allowed to dance with my husband, right?"

They've already had the 'fight' enough in the past, on the rare occasion they dance, that Danny lets Steve lead without comment. 'I'm taller," was the always the excuse. 'I should lead.'

"Yeah, sure." As usual, the smile gives his grousing away as completely fake.

Steve pulls him close, thumb tracing Danny's skin, like it so often does. Like what he really wants to be always doing is running his hands all over Danny's body, but he has to settle for this most of the time. They wrap their free hands around each other's waist.

It's been a while since their last dance – the night they'd gotten married, actually. Their wedding had been simple – just the two of them, Grace, Charlie. They'd had all their friends over for dinner after to share the news. As expected, they'd been happy for the couple, but disappointed not to be included. Then Grace made them have their First Dance and everything seemed to be forgiven.

The way Steve's looking at him, Danny wonders if he's thinking back to that day as well.

Of course, the way Steve's looking at him isn't much different than the way he always looks at Danny, especially when they're this close – intense, unwavering, like he's looking right into Danny's soul.

Maybe he is; Danny's sure he hasn't learned all of Super SEAL's super powers.

They move around the dance floor like that, unable to look anywhere else but into each other's eyes. Danny's hand maybe drifts under Steve's shirt, just to feel more of his skin.

The song is almost over when Steve gets this mischievous glint in his eye. Danny narrows his eyes at him.

"Spin me, asshole, and I'll punch you in the face." Steve just smirks at him and Danny thinks he's maybe gonna do it anyway.

Then there's catcalling coming from their table, which their dancing has inadvertently led them back to.

Steve sighs and then chuckles, but still doesn't look away from Danny.

"Our team are animals. You'd think they've gotten over all this already."

"Of course they're animals, McGarrett. They're _your_ team. You trained them."

Steve grins. "My team, huh? Like when the kids act up and suddenly they're Rachel's, like you've never made a bad decision in your life?"

"Of course I've made bad decisions. I married you, didn't I?" He can't say it with a straight face.

Steve pulls him even closer, like it maybe should be illegal how close they are, and still be in public. Like it maybe wants Danny to ditch their friends and go home... or even just to the back alley.

"That's a lie," Steve says, making Danny look back up to meet his eyes from where they'd drifted to his lips. "You love me."

"Yeah," Danny says, sighing, like it's a long-suffering effort to love Steve – It's not, actually. It's probably the easiest thing he's ever done, even when things get tough. "I do. And I'm certainly not over you, yet."

Steve grins. He bends down to speak into Danny's ear. "Good." His lips brush across Danny's skin as he speaks. It makes Kono get louder, but neither of them care.

The song ends, but it takes a few moments longer for them to pull apart.

"It's too obvious if we just leave now, right?"

Danny laughs as they start back to their table. "Yeah babe. Wait a bit. I'll make it worth your while."

* * *

a/n: So this is end of the track listing on my CD. BUT the Wikipedia entry for this record lists two bonus tracks, so there' still two more fics to last your through the weekend! Bonus Tracks FTW!


	13. Save a Prayer

**Save a Prayer**

"Hey babe," he whispered. "You gotta wake up. Show me those beautiful blue eyes." There was no response. He traced his fingers down the sleeping man's arm, took his hand, careful of the IV.

"Come on. Wake up, baby. What am I supposed to tell Grace and Charlie, huh? You know they'll be at our place tomorrow, right? You gonna trust me alone with them all week, Danno?"

He laughed. Of course Danny trusted him with his kids – their kids – it was the one thing that amazed Steve even more than just knowing Danny loved him. The amount of trust he placed in Steve could leave him breathless when he thought about it.

Of course, that didn't mean Danny wouldn't find something to rant about. This was Danny, after all.

"Who's gonna check to make sure I got all the grenades put away?"

The beeping of the machines was his only answer.

This was the first time since they'd got together that they'd been in the hospital for anything more than a patch job. An impressive record had just been broken.

He didn't like it.

It wasn't supposed to be Danny hooked up to machines. That was Steve's job – though Danny would disagree with that – and one he would gladly do now if it just meant that Danny would wake up and be fine.

The docs assured him that Danny would be fine. The magic bullet that had somehow worked its way under his vest had done damage, obviously. It was enough that Danny's body needed to rest in order to heal, to have him off work for a month or so, but not enough to worry about long term.

Steve wouldn't be convinced until Danny opened his eyes and snarked at him. Steve would let him rest after that. Anything to help him heal.

"I thought we weren't gonna do this anymore, huh? There weren't supposed to be anymore hospital stays. Because I was gonna be more careful. Call for backup. I held up my side of the bargain, buddy."

Another few minutes of beeping replies that he was unable to interpret.

"Did I tell you Mary called yesterday? She wanted to wish us a happy anniversary. I was surprised she remembered. I told her that I'd barely even remembered." That was a flat-out lie, which Danny should have called him on. "Y'know what she said? She said you were such a good influence on me that she marked the day in her calendar and would celebrate it every year. I asked her what she was on." He laughed... to himself, then leaned over to kiss Danny's forehead.

"But she's right, Danno. Even before we got together, you changed me, made me a better person. I would have died on some mission somewhere, still that closed-off, angry guy I was when you met me. I don't know what I'd do without you now. Well, maybe I do know."

There was a groan, a fluttering of eyelids that only opened to slits, but it was enough.

"If you don't shut up and let me sleep, Steven," his words were slow, his voice rough. "You won't have to worry about finding out."

Steve laughed again – this time happier – and kissed his lips. He stayed quiet after that, just running his fingers through Danny's hair, letting him sleep.


	14. Starting All Over Again

a/n: Whelp, here we are at the end. I think this has been one of my favourite stories/series to write. Thank you all for joining me on this ride! See you next time.

* * *

 **Starting All Over Again**

"Detective Williams, Commander McGarrett, we're so happy to have you join us again this year. Especially you, Commander. This is your first event, isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She smiled at him, even though Danny could see her disappointment that he was unavailable. Both of them, actually. He remembered her flirting the first Winter Formal... that first, very eventful Winter Formal.

"Well, good luck." She looked back at Danny. "You guys aren't packing, right?" She asked, just as she had the last three Winter Formals. After that first one, he was sure they always secretly hoped he was. After all, it couldn't be a coincidence that, after that dance, they started to ask _him_ to help, instead of Rachel.

"Nope." And he wasn't. It seemed unlikely terrorists would hit the same dance more than once, so there seemed to be no reason to break the rules. Steve on the other hand...

"Of course not, ma'am. We're just here to chaperone the dance."

Danny managed not to laugh. After all, why did _he_ need to break the rules, when he knew Steve would? He knew there was no place in Steve's outfit – his very nice GQ outfit that had all the girls, teens and adults alike, looking at him – to fit any of his little grenades in any small hidey-holes...

Guns, knives, though, those were different.

"Great!" She said. Clearly she didn't know Steve McGarrett. She handed over their name badges. "Have fun."

Danny took the badges and tugged Steve along with him before they could flirt anymore.

"So?" Danny asked with a smirk.

"So what?"

"How much _are_ you packing?"

"Daniel, it's against the rules to bring weapons to the dance."

"Uh huh. So, how much? Because I watched you put on your ankle holster and I can feel the gun at the small of your back right now." They just looked at each other for a moment before Steve caved, like he always did.

"I've also got two knives." Danny just shook his head, smiling. "And a taser. C'mon Danno, can you really blame me? I mean... it's Grace."

Danny chuckled as they crossed the room, already full of overly well-dressed teenagers.

"You'll get no complaints from me this time, babe. I just wanted to know what we were working with if we did end up needing your arsenal." He wasn't expecting trouble, but after that time three year ago, nothing would surprise him.

That had been one of the most terrifying days of his life. It could be no coincidence that nine of his Top Ten Most Terrifying Moments included the names 'Grace' (in multiple forms) and 'Steve'. Despite what had actually gone on at that dance, however, he couldn't help but smile at the memory.

After all, everyone he cared about made it out unscathed – physically anyway – and that had been what finally pushed him and Steve together. And they'd been together three years, now – they'd moved in together. He was 'dad' to their kids. They'd even got married.

Hell, Grace was going to graduate high school in a few months, had already been accepted to several colleges and universities – although, of course, Danny had informed her she was only allowed to go to UH, preferably while still living at home. She and Steve always laughed at him during those rants. Traitors.

That first Winter Formal had been crazy, but it had led to this. He looked up and really wished they were not surrounded by a bunch of teenagers. But Steve, it seemed, wasn't with him in his desire, like he almost always was. He was in SEAL Mode. "Once a SEAL, always a SEAL," Steve had told him more than once, even if he wasn't officially in the Navy anymore. And right now, he was very... focused.

"Babe, you know we're not here to track down arms dealers or anything, right? We're just supposed to make sure the kids aren't slipping anything into the punch, getting high on anything other than life, and that they don't even get as far as first base."

As expected, that brought a smile to Steve's face. He took his eyes off the growing crowd for a brief moment to look at Danny.

"What about if I want to pick a base?" Okay, so clearly he can multi-task.

"Oh yeah? What base do you want?"

"Oh, I'd hit it out of the park."

Danny swallowed hard. "Pretty confident there, babe."

Steve just smirked. "You know it's true."

Danny cleared his throat.

"Steven, you're being very inappropriate right now. Do we need to call Chin to come chaperone us?"

He just shrugged, turned back to survey the room. "Besides," he said, going back to the original point. "You think they'll try any of that with a SEAL in the room?"

"Good point, babe. Glare away, Super SEAL."

He kept an eye on Steve. He watched Grace talking with her friends; watched her dance with Will who she was not dating anymore, though they remained friends. He also did his actual job. He managed to find a kid stupid enough to actually try and spike the bunch – seriously, he didn't actually think that was a thing that happened anymore.

He met up with his husband halfway into the dance. Steve didn't seem to have relaxed at all.

"Seriously, babe. What are you expecting to happen?"

Steve looked at him for a moment before answering. "I don't know," he said. The 'but I'll be ready for it, if it does' was implied in the tone of his voice.

Danny thought back to that night, to the worry on Steve's face when he saw him. It was worry Steve only had when Danny was in danger. Having his daughter involved, on top of all those feelings he and Steve were failing at hiding post-transplant had pretty much obliterated whatever was left of his filter. Yeah, of course he was going to be paranoid tonight.

"Hey, nothing like that's gonna happen tonight." Steve just raised an eyebrow. "Probably," Danny amended. He let Steve go back to surveying the crowd.

Danny joined him for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"I guess we're back to the beginning, aren't we, the two of us at Grace's Winter Formal?"

"Well, not quite the beginning," Steve said, not looking away from the crowd. Danny chuckled.

"No, I guess not . Pulling guns on each other here would be frowned upon." He grinned, even though they weren't looking at each other. "Maybe we can recreate that at home," he said, low enough that Steve could just hear him. "Still, it was the start of _us_. Been a crazy few years."

"Been the best few years," Steve said, taking Danny's hand and kissing his knuckles, still not looking at him.

"True that, babe," Danny said. "Sap."


End file.
